MUSIC FEATURES

Paper Pilots like repetition. They come up with a hook—and their songs have plenty of hooks—and then they give it to you again and again.

The result, not surprisingly, is that after listening to their new EP, Automatic, their melodies are pulsing through your head for hours or days to follow. This is pop music with a bit of a Coldplay or Maroon 5 feel—especially when lead singer Justin Bocchieri busts out his falsetto.

The three-song EP starts with the title track, “Automatic,” a danceable, catchy love song that repeats the piano hook throughout much of the song. It cuts out a few times, but when it does, you know it’s going to come back at any moment. Even the guitar solo starts off with the same melody.

“The Weather” sounds almost like it was written to be the theme for a television show—perhaps not surprising given that Paper Pilots are perhaps best known for their cover of The Zombies’ “She’s Not There,” which appeared on HBO’s True Blood.

For fans of straightforward pop/rock with strong melodies, Paper Pilots are worth a listen. While they aren’t pushing any boundaries within their genre(s), they are delivering a well-polished product.